Daisy (Pushing Daisies Book 1)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  The dental office we stopped in front of was the fanciest I’d ever seen. Back home, my dentist was located in a regular building with a glass front door. It had a non-descript waiting room with muzak playing overhead.

  This place… was the exact opposite.

  The outside didn’t just have a glass door. Floor-to-ceiling windows and marble floors filled the lobby. But this wasn’t even the office. Lawson led me to the elevators and up to the twentieth floor. Still… marble as far as the eye could see.

  Pushing Daisies made decent money and so did my parents. I had dental insurance through my parents still. Yet I still thought none of that would cover what this visit would cost.

  “Hi,” Lawson said to the receptionist. A maybe twenty-five-year-old blonde who looked more than happy to help Lawson with anything he may need. She pushed her lips out as he spoke as if she were beginning a kiss.

  Maybe that stuff worked and maybe that was why I was terrible at flirting.

  “I’m Lawson. This is Daisy.” He pointed at me. “I called Gabe a little bit ago. He’s expecting us.”

  “I’ll let him know you’re here,” she said in this sweeter-than-necessary voice. “Is there anything I can get for you while you wait? Anything at all?”

  The meaning wasn’t lost on anyone who could hear her. “No thanks,” he answered for the both of us.

  Lawson took a few steps away from the desk and I followed.

  “Does that usually work?” I asked him, not feeling the need to elaborate.

  The idea fascinated me. How some women could get away with overtly propositioning a guy. I’d seen it with my brother for years. Yet the one time I’d hooked up with a fan, it was all over the internet within minutes.

  How embarrassing.

  Lawson chuckled and ran a hand over his chin. He was clean shaven today, but sometimes he wasn’t. Probably had to do with how much time he had in the morning. But every day since we’d joined the tour, he’d worn dress pants and a button-down shirt. Every day. I supposed I didn’t know about our off day. I hadn’t seen him.

  “For some guys,” he said, “it does.”

  “Fascinating,” was all I could get out before a man, also in dress pants and button-down shirt and a tie, came out to greet us. He had lighter brown hair that was styled to look like he’d just woken up like that but his smile was friendly and perfect.

  “You lost a filling?” Gabe asked after we’d been introduced.

  “Yes. And it’s the only one I’ve ever had, so I’m not looking forward to getting another and I think I might miss this one.”

  He chuckled and said, “Don’t sweat it. This will be painless. Let’s get you taken care of. You have a show tonight, I’m told.”

  “I’ll wait out here,” Lawson said as the two of us began walking away.

  “Nonsense,” Gabe told him then waved his hand in the air. “Come back. We can catch up.” Then he turned to me and added, “Unless of course Daisy objects.”

  I groaned inwardly. Lawson seeing me in a dentist chair hadn’t been a top priority of mine. But instead, I said, “No objection.” Not like it would’ve mattered either way.

  Gabe led us back to his office, where I hopped up into the chair. The dental assistant took her place on one side of my head and Gabe on the other. This weird Band-Aid smell filled the air. I thought it was the smell of latex gloves, but whatever it was, all dentists had the smell. She put a bib on me, then he numbed me up.

  I’d bet this was super attractive.

  As he worked, Gabe chatted with Lawson and I did everything I could not to look over. I was in a chair, my mouth wide open, a bib on, with drool running down my chin. The last thing I wanted was to make eye contact with Lawson.

  If I’d ever, for a second, entertained the remote possibility that Lawson saw me in any way other than the little sister, that hope was completely snuffed out in those moments. There’d be no way he’d find me sexy, or attractive even, after seeing all this.

  Probably for the best anyway.

  “All right,” Gabe said as he adjusted my chair back up. “You are all set. This one should last you.”

  One side of my face was melting off. It was numb. I couldn’t feel anything. “I’ll be able to sing tonight, right?” The movement of my mouth felt unnatural.

  “Oh yeah,” he answered right away. “The numbing will wear off probably in an hour. You’ll be good to go after that.” He stood up and shook Lawson’s hand. “But call me if you have any problems. Just in town for the one night?”

  Lawson shook his head. “Couple of shows in a row.”

  “Excellent. We should meet up for a drink. I’ll talk to you soon,” he told Lawson before leaving the room.

  The flirty receptionist stood when she saw us walking out but it was as if Lawson didn’t notice. She had this little grin on her face as she watched us get on the elevator. Maybe she’d been hoping he’d come over and take her up on her offer.

  Maybe I’d been thinking he might but I couldn’t deny the relief I felt when he stayed with me and didn’t even glance back.

  “We should get some food,” I think I said in the elevator. This numbness was really annoying but Lawson had left before getting to eat at the arena.

  “Can you even eat?”

  “I don’t have to, but I can get a drink. I’d probably bit my tongue off at this point. Aren’t you hungry?”

  “I am, but—”

  “Then let’s do it,” I told him. “I really don’t want to go back yet. My brothers will poke at my cheek to see if I really can’t feel anything and that alone will make me homicidal.”

  Finally, I got a laugh out of Lawson. “Can’t have that.”

  Lawson took care of everything. He got us the car to take us to this restaurant that reminded me of a Denny’s. Nothing fancy. Nothing too much, but comfortable, and nobody seemed to notice us there. Since we were only a few blocks from the venue, we could just walk back.

  He ordered a burger and fries but only wanted the water the waitress brought over first. I ordered a diet pop because that was about all I could handle right then. The drinks came back right away.

  “Are you from New York City?” I asked him while we waited for his food.

  “No.” He shook his head. “Chicago.”

  “Makes sense,” I told him. “Since I assume that’s where you found Courting Chaos.”

  “Yup.” He took a quick drink.

  “So you’ve basically met my entire family,” I told him letting my chatty little sister side take over. “What’s yours like?”

  “My family?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah. Siblings?”

  “Older and younger sister.”

  That brought a smile to my face. “You’re like me.”

  He leaned onto the table. “How’s that?”

  “I’m the only girl. You’re the only boy.”

  “Oh.” He leaned back into the booth. “In that way, yes.”

  “Parents?” I pushed. For whatever reason, I wanted to know everything about him. Scratch that. I knew the reason but wasn’t ready to admit it to myself and since it was another stupid crush, I wasn’t going to.

  “I have them, yes.”

  I reached out and slapped his arm. The contact felt better than it should’ve. His forearm muscles were hard, my touch was rough, yet still I wanted more. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Right. Right. Mom’s an office manager. Dad’s a truck driver. They’ve been divorced for about twenty years.”

  “Oh, that sucks.”

  “Not really. Not if you heard the way they argued.”

  “Sorry,” I told him. Most of my friends’ parents were divorced and I’d heard all the horror stories. Sometimes I felt guilty to still have that original family unit.

  “Not necessary, but thanks.” He moved his water glass back and forth between his fingers. “What about your parents? I actually haven’t heard anything about them despite all of you being around.”


  “My dad’s a doctor. Met my mom while she was still in college and he was in med school. They got married as soon as she graduated and he was a resident.” I took a quick sip of my pop, but the liquid ran down my chin because I’d thought my lips were closed but they weren’t. The numbing was just beginning to ease up a bit. “They’re still together and disgustingly in love. They also like to make sure we all know they’re disgustingly in love.”

  Lawson wet his lips. “That a bad thing?”

  “No. It’s just… ” I adjusted myself in my seat as the waitress brought his plate and asked if there was anything else we needed. There wasn’t. “I actually love it. But if they know that I do, it’ll be so much worse. So I let them disgust me, they have their fun, and we all go about our day.”

  “Sounds fair.” He took a large bite of his burger and the thing looked mouthwateringly good. Maybe I was just hungry. “I feel bad eating this in front of you,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “You look like you want to rip it out of my hand to eat it yourself.”

  He probably wasn’t wrong.

  “Maybe I’ll just steal a fry. They’re soft. I’ll chew slowly.”

  He slid the plate toward me. “Have as many as you want.”

  I took one and slowly chewed it so I didn’t bite my cheek. But again, when I tried to take a drink of my pop, it didn’t all make it into my mouth. Fucking hell. Good thing I wasn’t into Lawson. This would’ve been awful if I had been.

  But Lawson didn’t say a word as I wiped it away with a napkin.

  “How did you become a manager?” I asked him, mostly because I just wanted to hear him talk a little more and this… this was comfortable.

  “I had already dabbled with this small band that I knew would never go anywhere but thought that was the best kind of band to figure shit out on.” He took another bite and chewed quickly. “Then I was at this shitty bar in Chicago and heard Courting Chaos play. I knew they were going somewhere, so I offered to manage them for free until they were making money.”

  “And they went for it?” Another fry went in my mouth. These were some of the best I’d ever had.

  “They didn’t have a lot of options. And right away, I started getting them better gigs. I’d say I earned my place.”

  “Uh, yeah.” I swung my arms around me. “Look at where they are. Look at where we are. This is crazy.”

  “Here’s the thing, Daisy.” He finished his last bite and I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to take the last fry. “I knew that night that they were going to hit. They’d be big one day. And when my friend Jared called me from one of your shows and held the phone up for me to listen, I knew you guys were too. Which was why I got a hold of Mack to make the offer after the accident.”

  “So you heard about us from your friend Jared? How did you find Mack?”

  “Jared also knows Mack.”

  “Wait,” I said, sitting up straight. “Jared Wedge?”

  Mack had known Jared for so long that I wasn’t even sure how they met at this point. He’d just appeared one day with Mack and had been around ever since. They were in college but I had no idea if they’d met in college.

  “Yeah. He knows my sister. Anyway, he knew we were looking for someone to step in and he called.”

  I gave him a grateful smile. “Well, I’m glad Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon worked in our favor this time.”

  “Me too.” He glanced down at his plate then back to me. “Are you going to eat the last fry or leave it sitting there all lonely?”

  A full grin crossed my face and I snatched that damn fry off the table. “I guess I’ll eat it then.”

  Chapter Four

  Lawson

  Spending that time with Daisy yesterday was some of the most relaxing hours I’d had in a while. Sitting in that restaurant talking with her… I couldn’t think of a better way to spend time. Then both of the bands’ shows had gone great last night. I couldn’t ask for things to be running smoother. However, I was left wanting to spend even more time with Daisy, which was just an awful idea.

  But today I needed to focus on what we had going on. This was my job and Daisy was pulling my focus. Even when she wasn’t around, my thoughts would drift to her. And yesterday she’d been more relaxed than normal. It’d made me more relaxed, but fuck… it made everything harder too.

  “It was cute as fuck,” Cross said as I entered their dressing room.

  He had to be talking about Indie. She was the only person or thing I’d ever heard him refer to as “cute.”

  Dixon chuckled. “Dude, you think everything she does is adorable. She could fart in your face and you’d be like, it’s so adorable.”

  The guys broke out into a louder laugh.

  Once they quieted, Cross countered, “Well, if her ass is that close to my face, there’s a reason. And I bet I’m loving that reason.”

  Even I chuckled at that one.

  “You guys know you’re talking about my friends, right?” Barrett said to them. For the most part, she did a fantastic job of melting into the background, though I’d bet Dixon always knew exactly where in the room she was. “I have a great memory and can repeat all this shit if provoked.” Then she snapped her fingers. “Or hey, let me secretly Facetime them while you all chat.”

  “No one has said a single bad thing,” Ransom told her. “Don’t go trying to start trouble.”

  “What are we talking about?” I asked them since I’d obviously stepped into the middle of an already established conversation.

  Barrett rolled her eyes. “They were talking about all the adorable things their girlfriends do that would probably irritate the shit out of them if someone else did it.” She let out such a hard sigh that I felt it in my chest. These guys could be a lot of work. “Though I’ve noticed that Dixon has been very quiet through this.”

  “That’s because he’s smart,” Booker told him.

  She bit the corner of her mouth the way she did whenever she didn’t want to give the guys the satisfaction of a laugh.

  “What about you, Lawson?” Cross asked.

  “What about me?”

  “Haven’t you noticed that? If you’re in love with the woman, it doesn’t bug you.”

  “Haven’t noticed,” I told him as I pulled my iPad out of the bag I’d left in here earlier. It’d give me something to busy myself with if I replied to the emails I’d been avoiding.

  “Oh, come on,” Ransom said with a groan. “There has to have been something. Maybe not with a girlfriend then? A friend. A grandma. Something that should’ve bugged you but didn’t.”

  “You guys bug me,” I told them, which only got me a round of loud laughs. “And I don’t think you’re adorable.”

  “Seriously,” Barrett muttered. Now that… that I smiled at. She loved Dixon. That was clear, but the guys got on her nerves too—and each other’s sometimes.

  “Fine.” I sighed. “Not a girlfriend, but after I took Daisy for her filling yesterday”—I tried not to notice the way Barrett’s eyes fucking lit up like a kid on Christmas morning—“she insisted we stop for something to eat. But her mouth was numb and she kept dribbling her pop down her chin like a two-year-old.” I shrugged. “Probably should’ve bugged me, but it didn’t.”

  Ransom cocked his head to the side. “I’m not sure that’s the same thing.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Dixon disagreed. “I think it might be exactly the same thing.”

  I hadn’t glanced at either of them. Instead, I was locked in a stare down with Barrett. Her eyes were wide and her brows were up as she pinched her lips between her teeth like she was about to explode with… something. Laughter. Words. A shout of victory. Vomit. I had no idea.

  Then Dixon was off the chair he’d been sitting in and was standing next to his girl. Fuck. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

  “Daisy is awfully cute,” he said without sparing Barrett a glance. Not that she’d care if called another woman “cute.” Jealousy wasn’t
part of their relationship and if it had been, they wouldn’t have still been together.

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” I returned my focus to the emails I’d been putting off.

  “You spend the entire afternoon with someone as fucking badass as Daisy and you don’t know what I’m talking about?” Dixon asked.

  “Jesus,” Barrett barked out. “At least try to remember I’m standing right here.”

  “Oh baby.” Dixon turned to her and took her hands in his. “You know I’m doing this for effect.”

  That was when Barrett burst out into a loud laugh. “Yeah. I know. I’m giving you shit.”

  “Look,” I finally said, pretty ready to end this shit. “There’s nothing there.” I narrowed my eyes on Barrett. “And I see that fucking look on your face, Barrett. Even if I wanted there to be something, which I don’t, Daisy is far, far too young for me.”

  Now Barrett narrowed her eyes on me. “She’s twenty-one.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Twenty-one. That’s too young. Now.” I put my hands on my hips. “I’m going to focus on answering these fucking emails to make sure all of you still have jobs to do. Does that work for everyone?”

  “I guess,” Dixon mumbled like a chastised kid. There was no way that this was the last I’d heard about Daisy Thompson.

  “Besides,” Ransom said to Dixon. “We’re in New York. Isn’t that where Gracie comes to visit? I don’t recall seeing her last night, so she must be coming tonight.”

  Who the fuck knew they paid so close attention to what I did or didn’t do? They made it sound like I had a woman in every port. I didn’t. I did have a few friends I hooked up with every once in a while, but fuck. They made it sound like something else altogether.

  “Oh.” I turned back to them. “And get that fucking harness off my bus. I can’t figure out how the hell you put it up there.”

  Another round of raucous laughter followed my statement. It was like I wanted to hand feed them the things they needed to fuck with me. But luckily for me, they had pretty short attention spans where I was concerned and soon they were all talking at once about something else.